ration of Ifrael, and the only one more that I shall mention out of this Prophet, is,

12.

DAN.**. 1. And at that time shall Michael

stand up, the great Prince that standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble, fuch as never was fince there was a nation, even to that fame time and at that time thy people shall be delivered, &c.

The time here spoken of is when the king of the north, mentioned ver. 40. of the preceding chapter, should come to his end, and none should help him. But this king of the north being (according to the most judicious expositors *) the Turkish empire, it is evident that event here referred to is yet future; and that it relates to the Jews is plain from these words, at that time thy people shall be delivered. For who can suppose that the words thy people, i. e. the people of Daniel, can fignify any other than the nation of Ifrael or Judah. The Chriftian Church may, indeed, with propriety enough, be called the People of the Lord, or of Chrift; but cannot, in any fenfe, be called the people of Daniel.

• See Mede, Book iii. chap. xvii. page 674.

HAGGAI prophefied to those that were returned from captivity about the year 520 before Christ; and his principal design seems to have been to encourage them in the building of the Temple.

XLV.

HAG. ii. 6. Thus faith the Lord of Hosts, yet once, it is a little while *, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the fea, and the dry 7 land: And I will shake all nations, and the defire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with 8 glory, faith the Lord of Hosts. The filver is mine, 9 and the gold is mine, faith the Lord of Hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the formert, faith the Lord of Hosts: and in this place will I give peace, faith the Lord of Hosts.

Almost all commentators have applied this Prophecy to the first coming of Christ; and think it fulfilled by his coming to that Temple which was then building. But if we rightly confider the context, we shall see that this is not the true meaning thereof.

For it is faid, ver. 6. & 7. I will shake heaven and earth, the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, &c. All this, therefore, was to be

done at or before the coming of the defire of all nations. But were there any such shakings or commotions among all nations at or before the first coming of Christ? The destruction of JeruSalem by the Romans was indeed a great shaking of the Jewish people; but not of all nations : neither can it be said to be at or before the first coming of Christ. This shaking, therefore, must relate to a future shaking that shall precede the second coming of Christ, when the glory of the future Temple of the restored Jerufalem, or (as it is rightly translated in Tindale) the glory of the last house shall be greater than the first *.

And that the Prophecy relates to this time is further evident from the 21st, and following verses, where the same shaking is again mentioned. Speak to Zerubbabel governour of Judah, Saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth, and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen, and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them, and the horses, and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. In that day, faith the Lord of Hosts, I will take thee, O Zerubbabel my fervant, the son of Shealtiel, faith the Lord, and will make thee as a fignet: for I have chosen thee, faith the Lord of Hosts.

* The latter and the former house, as our translation has it, seems to imply that there were to be but two Houses or Temples; that destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and that which they were then building: but the first and last house does not confine us to only those two Temples.

4

.. It is plain from this passage, that at this shaking the Lord would destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen. But this was not done at the deftruction of Jerufalem; neither can that day, when Jerufalem was destroyed, nor any day fince, be the time when the Lord should take Zerubbabel, and make him as a signet; and therefore this Prophecy must relate to the time of the second coming of Christ, and of the first refurrection, when Zerubbabel shall, like Daniel, be one of those who shall stand in his lot at the end of the days mentioned Dan. xii. 13.

- ZECHARIAH also prophefied to those that were returned from captivity, at the fame time with Haggai, or 520 years before Christ.

XLVI.

ZECH. ii. 4. Jerufalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, for the multitude of men and 5 cattle therein. For I, faith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory 6 in the midst of her. Ho, Ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, faith the Lord: for I have fpread you abroad as the four winds of the hea7 ven, faith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that 8 dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus faith the Lord of Hosts, After the glory * hath he fent me unto the nations which spoiled you, for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye. 9 For behold, I will shake my hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their fervants: and ye shall 10 know that the Lord of hosts hath fent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, faith the Lord. II And many nations shall be joined unto the Lord in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the 12 Lord of Hosts hath fent me unto thee. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerufalem again.

That the inhabiting of Jerufalem, here spoken of, does not relate to the return from the Babylonish captivity, appears from ver. 6. where they are faid to have been scattered unto the four winds of the heavens; an expreffion which signifies their being scattered all the world over. Add to this, that they are faid to be scattered by four horns, ver. 19. of the preceding chapter; by which horns are meant the four monarchies; and therefore the return from this scattering could not happen till after they had been scattered by all the four horns. It is also said, ver. 9. that the nations which spoiled them shall be a spoil to their servants, or to them that ferved them. But this has not yet happened: none of those who spoiled Ifrael have as yet become their slaves. It is also faid, that the Lord shall inherit Judah, his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerufalem again; which has not yet been fulfilled since the scattering here mentioned.

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